Elements of Paradise is a large wall piece which will consist of around 50 individual sculptures.
These days most of us are yearning. For a rest, for escape, for the ideal, for the perfect place, for brightness, for comfort, for greener grass, for a paradise.
Historically and culturally, in texts and in art, multiple versions of an ethereal place are described. Sometimes it is a garden, sometimes a city, sometimes both. Everything is the best imaginable, and beautiful.
Paradise, Heaven, Jannah, Valhalla, Mag Mell, Aru… It’s not so easy to pin down the particulars for they are as wide ranging as the human imagination.
Peacocks, parasols, precious stones, angels, boars, fish, crystal clear water, music, blossoms, comfortable couches, emerald rainbows, driving down golden streets in yellow Cadillac convertibles, butterflies, fields of reeds,golfing, grapes, oxen, boats, wine (or not), mythical beasts, bread, ice cream…
Over the past six years Australian-based Irish sculptor Jackie McNamee has been working on an ongoing project in carved and painted wood, combining these various Elements in an attempt to present a clearer picture of Paradise.